Chapter 50: Tokyo Drift XX
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“There were three people in that race, but only you survived. I examined the remains… of my brother’s car. I noticed not only was the roof that was caved in, but there were also marks on the body of the car from the impact. Its tires were severely damaged. But even until his final moment, he was gripping the steering wheel firmly, trying to steer his car. With his skills, except for external interference, there’s no way he could’ve lost control that way,” the short ‘man’ hissed. “You were his best friend, one of the three people involved in the race! Then you disappeared! How dare you say that day had nothing to do with you at all?”
There was a pained look in Takeda Tetsuya’s eyes as he said, “You’re right. Your brother died all because of me. It was my fault.”
“That being the case, tonight, you’ll pay for his life!” The short ‘man’ announced before cutting off the walkie talkie.
Zhang Heng kept quiet.
He pointed out the ‘man’s’ identity so that both of them could communicate and resolve their dissent. From a third party’s view, Takeda Tetsuya did share part of the blame. Kobayashi, however, had also decided to save his friend, which eventually led to his death.
Blaming his death entirely on Takeda Tetsuya was just ludicrous. Even blaming everything on Asano Naoto was not wholly fair either, because the person he was attacking was actually Takeda Tetsuya. Perhaps unpleasant to hear, but the thing that killed Kobayashi was loyalty to his friend.
Zhang Heng did not wish for Takeda Tetsuya to make up some moving touching story—he simply needed to tell the whole truth. At least, that could have removed a portion of misunderstanding between them. Zhang Heng underestimated how much that accident affected the seafood store owner. Kobayashi’s death was his greatest regret.
All these years, Tetsuya had been like a prisoner to his past, waiting for this long-overdue judgment day. To add, from the way he saw it, Kobayashi’s sister was a punishment by the gods. If it were not for saving his daughter, he would have given up long ago.
Even so, Zhang Heng could sense that Takeda Tetusya’s fighting spirit was steadily declining at a rate visible to the naked eye.
In contrast, the short ‘man’ at the back who had been following quietly behind them was burning with spite after that last conversation.
The red Nissan 180SX picked up speed and was head to head with the Dodge Viper!—history always had a way of repeating itself.
The short ‘man’ forced Takeda Tetsuya to the far-right lane on the highway. Even though she had never seen the race that took place 22 years ago, she was making the exact same decision as Asano Naoto.
Coincidentally, a car was also coming towards them, but it was on the third lane, so it merely went past the three cars.
Zhang Heng knew that they could not go on like this. Right now, they were almost a third of the way. Takeda Tetsuya was not getting any luckier, and his mental state was deteriorating. Sooner or later, he was going to make a mistake. So, Zhang Heng switched lanes and deliberately slowed down.
The short ‘man’ did not pay much attention to the third car’s maneuver—Tonight was about settling her grudge against Takeda Tetsuya, and Zhang Heng was only a supporting actor in the grand scheme of things.
But when the supposedly braking L300 suddenly accelerated and occupied the lane on her left, her attention was roused!
In a sense, boxing-out was also a very dangerous move.
Whether it was the Asano Naoto 22 years ago or the short ‘man’ today, using their cars to block Takeda Tetsuya also put them at risk of running into an oncoming vehicle. Compared to Takeda Tetsuya, who could neither move to the left nor the right, they had at least one vacant side.
If there was any approaching danger, the short ‘man’ could swerve to the left lane, but since Zhang Heng had gotten involved, the situation was even more chaotic!—the three of them were all stuck on their respective paths.
In other words, it meant that if a car were to approach, one of them would inevitably be involved in the collision.
Zhang Heng had intended to use this strategy to force the short ‘man’ to give up. As long as she kept decelerating and accelerating, Takeda Tetsuya would not lean in on her. Alas, the short ‘man’ was even more stubborn than Zhang Heng expected her to be.
Even in a situation like this, she was still determined to drive the Viper into the corner as if to pressure Zhang Heng to give up first.
This move might have worked on other people, but not Zhang Heng with his lucky rabbit’s foot. Out of three people, his chances of crashing into another car was very low.
Then as if to prove this point, a bright light flashed from the middle lane! Takeda Tetsuya took this opportunity to slow his car down to giving Nissan 180SX space to dodge the incoming vehicle. However, all this only caused the short ‘man’ to hesitate for a while.
She had orchestrated all of this to take revenge on Takeda Tetsuya. But instead, if she were to be saved by him, how could she bring justice to what happened 22 years ago?
As she weighed her options, the car coming from the opposite direction was already in front of her! Takeda Tetsuya did not have much time to think. Kobayashi died saving him, so no matter what, he could not let anything happen, his best friend’s only sister!
Takeda Tetsuya seemed to have awakened from his languid, enervate state; his eyes shone brightly, and in a fleeting 2 seconds, transformed back into that D1 champion who took over the European racing scene!
The Dodge driver quickly dropped gears, picked up speed, and leaned resolutely towards the Nissan 180SX’s tail!
Takeda Tetsuya used just the right amount of force to push the 180SX out of the way so that it missed the oncoming heavy-duty truck by a hair!
The short ‘man’ proved to be an excellent driver as well. She immediately took control of her car, and while the body of the car grazed the divider creating bright sparks, the vehicle did not flip onto its side, even managing to avoid the heavy-duty truck!
Takeda Tetsuya, on the other hand, was not as lucky. By forcing the Nissan to the side, the Viper took over the middle lane and was heading towards the truck in place of the short ‘man’!
The next moment, however, a beat-up L300 appeared suddenly like a ghost, tumbling into the Dodge!
In the minivan, Zhang Heng took a deep breath and pulled the handbrake.
At that split second, it felt as if time was standing still.
With the front of the heavy-duty truck as the center, both the Viper and the L300 sliced a beautiful arc from the inertia! The L300 drifted from the right to the left lane, while Takeda’s Dodge Viper went under the heavy-duty truck on its side!
Was this the end?
The short ‘man’ looked startled! Watching the retribution that she had planned for over 20 years unfolding before her eyes, she neither felt relieved nor gratified.
She was still replaying the scene in her mind when the Viper struck the back of her car.
Suddenly, she understood why her brother had died in that race that never should have taken place. The same guilt that Takeda Tetsuya experienced back then now filled her.
If she could, she would exchange everything she had to go back to the time before everything happened!
…
As if in response to her wish, the Dodge Viper miraculously scuttled from under the heavy-duty truck. Except for scratches on the roof, it was mostly unscathed!
“You’re welcome!” Zhang Heng’s voice sounded over the intercom.
“I didn’t plan to thank you!” Takeda Tetsuya snapped! “You got your angles all wrong. If I hadn’t corrected the speed, I would have ended up under the wheel!”
The short ‘man’ opened her mouth to say something but caught herself when Zhang Heng said over the intercom, “No matter how much the both of you have to talk about, let’s finish this race first. I really need to pee!”
